If your project involves trees, hedgerows, site access, utilities or development near existing vegetation, June is one of the best times to start arranging your arboricultural survey.
At Veon, one pattern we see regularly is that many clients wait until September to make contact about arboricultural work. On the surface, that can seem logical. Summer holidays are underway, some projects appear to slow down, and teams often feel they will be in a better position to deal with surveys and reports after the summer.
In practice, though, waiting until September can create unnecessary pressure.
For many development, infrastructure and land management projects, June is the ideal time to book surveys for July and August. Rather than being a poor time for arboricultural consultancy, mid-summer is often one of the most useful and practical windows in the year.
Summer is a strong time to understand tree constraints
A common misconception is that summer is not the right time to think about trees. In reality, summer can be a very useful season for arboricultural survey work.
At this time of year, trees are in leaf, canopy spread is visible, crown density is easier to assess, and species characteristics are often clearer. For many survey types, this helps provide a fuller understanding of the tree stock on or around a site. It can also help project teams identify potential constraints earlier, before layouts are fixed or programme decisions are locked in. That early understanding matters.
Arboricultural input is often most valuable at the point when a design is still flexible. If a survey is commissioned early enough, it can help inform access routes, service corridors, build zones, tree retention strategy, and protection requirements. If it is left too late, the same issues may still arise, but with less time and less flexibility to deal with them.
Booking in June helps you avoid the autumn rush
Another practical reason to act now is timing. September is traditionally a busy month across construction, planning, development and consultancy. Teams return from annual leave, dormant projects restart and deadlines that felt distant in early summer begin to move much closer.
That means September is often the point when many clients begin trying to arrange the same surveys and reports at the same time.
By booking in June for work in July and August, you give your project a better chance of moving ahead in an orderly way. You create more breathing room for site work, reporting, design review and any follow-on discussions that may be needed. Just as importantly, you reduce the risk of your arboricultural work becoming a late-stage item that starts to influence the programme more than it should. In simple terms, early booking gives you more control.
Survey work and vegetation clearance are not the same thing
Some clients are understandably cautious about tree and vegetation issues during the summer months because of nesting season restrictions. That caution is sensible, but it can sometimes lead to confusion.
Survey work, tree assessment and planning-stage arboricultural advice are not the same thing as vegetation clearance. In Ireland, restrictions apply to cutting, grubbing, burning and otherwise destroying certain vegetation during the main bird nesting period from 1 March to 31 August, subject to specific legal provisions. Birds, nests and eggs may also have protections that apply more generally. That legal context is important and should always be respected. However, it does not mean that tree surveys, site assessments and arboricultural reporting should be put on hold until autumn.
In fact, summer is often exactly the right time to gather the information needed to support lawful, well-planned decisions later in the year.
Early arboricultural advice supports better projects
A professional arboricultural survey is not just a list of trees. It helps build a clearer picture of the site and the opportunities and constraints that come with it.
Depending on the project, this can include identifying species, dimensions, crown spread, condition, likely retention value, and the implications of trees for development proposals or works. In an Irish planning and development context, this kind of information is commonly used to inform design development, impact assessment, tree protection planning and method statements.
That is why early instruction is so important. When arboriculture is considered early, it tends to support smoother design coordination, better risk management and fewer surprises later on. When it is left until the last minute, it can become a source of delay rather than a tool for good planning.
Why act now?
If you already know your site contains trees or hedgerows, or if there is any chance that existing trees may influence design, access, services or construction, June is a smart time to book your survey work for July or August. It allows you to make use of a strong survey window, avoid the autumn bottleneck, and give your wider project team the information they need before time pressure increases.
At Veon, we help clients understand tree-related constraints clearly and early, so projects can move forward with better information and fewer avoidable issues.
If you are planning works later this year, now is the right time to start the conversation. See our contact form on our Arboriculture page or call us on 01-284 1777 to speak to one of our aboriculture team.
Veon Ltd
1 Leopardstown Business Centre,
Ballyogan Road,
Dublin 18,
D18DK64.